Q Can a simple scoring system predict wound healing in patients with chronic venous ulceration?

METHODS

Design:

separate cohorts were used to develop and validate the scoring system.

Setting:

an open access, nurse-led leg ulcer service in Gloucestershire, UK.

Patients:

patients with open leg ulceration lasting >4 weeks, an ankle–brachial pressure index ⩾0.85, and superficial venous reflux
alone or mixed superficial and deep venous reflux on duplex imaging. Exclusion criteria were deep reflux only or occluded
deep veins and inability to conduct plethysmography. The derivation cohort included 229 patients (median age 73 y, 58% women)
who participated in the Effect of Surgery and Compression on Healing and Recurrence (ESCHAR) study, and the validation cohort
included 86 patients (median age 72 y, 57% women) who were selected prospectively from the leg ulcer service over a 13-month
period.